EXCLUSIVE: Country music star Max McNown has had a rapid rise from serving coffee to selling out shows and he revealed his focus on ‘little wins’ along the way and his brother’s brave inspiration
Max McNown’s life has completely changed after going from working at Starbucks to selling out tours in just a few short years. The 24-year-old Oregon native became an Internet sensation and has rapidly climbed through the ranks to become one of Country music’s hottest commodities.
But speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Max admits there is a lot more to it than just hitting the jackpot- and it’s been a lot of work in progress moments. The singer admitted it’s more a case of stacking “tiny wins” daily, including cracking the social media algorithm while continuing to pour coffees.
The A Lot More Free singer revealed his rise came thanks to his persistence and discovering what was working well for his audience – including a backwards baseball cap. He now boasts 2.5million Instagram followers and has 10 million monthly Spotify plays. And it’s clear to see his hard work has paid off in abundance.
But there is a lot more to it and his music is jampacked with meaningful messages too. One tune in particular means more than most for the charismatic singer. He candidly opening up about his hit tune Can’t Hide Light, and how it was inspired by his brother’s brave battle with cancer.
Younger brother Brock was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2019. His gruelling five-year battle against the disease saw him undergo multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant during the pandemic.
Thankfully, he successfully completed the treatment and is in remission. Max explained: “Watching how he handled that battle and the joy he still brought to everybody around him. There was a light within him, and that was something that just blew my mind, because everything seemed to be going wrong, and to still be kind, and you know, be a bright shining light for the people around you is so difficult when you’re not feeling very bright yourself, and so that was what Can’t Hide Light was about.
“It’s like, no matter what the world is going to keep trying to do to you, your light is not able to be hidden. So that’s what that song was inspired by.”
But it’s not just the one hit that his brother provided inspiration for. Max continued: “I always just refer to him as an inspiration for all of my music, because when you’ve seen somebody go through something where you don’t know if they’re going to live or not, every day is a successful perseverance.
“Every single day that you make it through with a positive attitude, with loving others, the way I see it, it brings me so much gratitude, because I look at that and I think, if he’s gone through all that and he’s not complaining to me and he’s just pushing forward, who am I to worry about my voice not feeling great before a show?
“Who am I to worry about missing a chord on guitar? It just puts everything into this very zoomed out perspective, where really all you should feel is gratitude, because we have it so good in this life, in this generation, in this era, like things are so good that we are constantly trying to find things to complain about, and so that’s kind of what the mindset is with my music. I try to write about a lot of the good in the world, so that’s why you know that story inspires basically every one of my songs.”
Max recently released a new album, and his latest track, First Born Daughter is already blowing up on streaming platforms. Speaking of the tune, Max said: “First Born Daughter was one of those where I just wrote from my heart about how I felt, and people seemed to take it as their own.
“The first time I posted it on social media, just a bunch of people were like, ‘I’m a first born daughter, I hoped a song would come out about me.’
“And then I’ve just watched it grow, and it’s always so fun to see that, because as an artist, you always have self-doubt, you know, it’s always going to be there.”
Despite his huge rise, Max remains grounded. And he gives a lot of credit to his dad for a key piece of advice. “My dad told me that when you release music, you are giving it to your fans, so now what you may have thought the song was about for you, it could be something completely different for them.
“And that statement has been a part of my mindset every time I step into a writing room, because I think I don’t need to think about what the fans want to hear, you know, I never try to think about writing songs that are meant to say something to them and tell them how to feel. I want to write songs that I feel like I need to write and let them do what they will with it and relate it to their life. A Lot More Free is the best example. I’ve heard hundreds, if not 1000s, of stories, and none of them are the exact same.”
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